


Soft As The Ocean

by Izzyaro (Isilarma)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Brotherly Bonding, F/M, Gay Castiel (Supernatural), Gen, Hurt Balthazar (Supernatural), Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Multi, Pansexual Balthazar, Protective Castiel (Supernatural), Protective Dean Winchester, Revenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-13 17:41:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28532340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isilarma/pseuds/Izzyaro
Summary: They shouldn’t have hurt Castiel’s brother.
Relationships: Balthazar & Castiel (Supernatural), Balthazar & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester
Kudos: 10





	Soft As The Ocean

_‘...be a simple kind of man...’_

Dean hummed along to the familiar refrain as he dropped the chops into the pan. The potatoes and veg were roasting, and the wine was waiting on the table. It was a bit fancier than anything he had done before, but hopefully Cas would appreciate it. Between his work and evening classes, and Cas’ ridiculous class schedule this was the first evening they had had to themselves in two weeks and Dean was going to make the most of it.

Thinking of Cas always brought a smile to Dean’s lips. Four months was longer than he had dated anyone, let alone a guy, but it was okay. Better than okay actually. He never would have been this comfortable in his last girlfriend’s kitchen. She had never actually let him in the kitchen, some bullshit about not trusting him with anything that wasn’t a cheeseburger. Her loss.

A key rattled in the lock and Dean grinned, all thoughts of his ex forgotten.

“Cutting it fine, Cas! I’m nearly done in here.”

There was a long silence, during which Dean’s smile faded. Cas would have answered. But only one other person had a key to Cas’ apartment.

“Damn it, Balthazar!”

Not that he had anything against Cas’ brother and housemate, but Balthazar was the last person Dean wanted to see tonight. Dean glared down at the sizzling chops and dropped the spatula on the counter with a clatter.

“You’re supposed to be out,” he growled, but when he stalked out into the hall he stopped short.

It was Balthazar, but not the smarmy dick that Dean was used to. This Balthazar was leaning heavily on the doorframe, eyes closed, and soaked to the skin. That was bad enough, but Dean’s stomach twisted at the bruising on his face, and the blood oozing from his split lip and a gash on his temple.

“Balthazar?” Dean spluttered. “What the fuck?”

Balthazar ignored him in favour of kicking the door closed. He was shivering violently and dripping water everywhere as he shuffled inside, and Dean finally snapped out of his stupor and darted for the bathroom. He grabbed the towel that wasn’t Castiel’s and hurried back to throw it round Balthazar’s shoulders.

“What the hell happened?”

Balthazar didn’t meet his gaze as he dried his face and staggered over to the couch. “Doesn’t matter.”

Dean stared at him. “Doesn’t matter? Dude, you look like you got the crap kicked out of you.” Balthazar flinched, and Dean forced himself to soften his voice. “Hey. Cas said you were going out tonight? With, uh…”

Castiel might be able to keep track of his brother’s numerous acquaintances, but Dean had never bothered. Balthazar spared him a brief glance.

“Tom,” he mumbled. He sank onto the couch with a muffled groan, and the last traces of colour drained from his face as his eyes drifted closed. “Met him at a bar last week.”

Dean was pretty sure he wasn’t going to like where this was going. He perched on the far end of the couch. “Okay.”

He tried to keep his tone light, the way he had when he was trying to get Sam to open out about something, and Balthazar’s bloodied face twisted into a grimace. “Well, it turns out that Tom isn’t gay,” he managed. “Or bi, or pan, or even vaguely questioning.” He took a moment to draw in breath, and his tone turned bitter. “But he and his six friends found it absolutely hilarious that I thought he was.”

Ice flooded Dean’s stomach. He looked Balthazar over again, taking in the purpling bruises on his face and the arm he had wrapped around his ribs, but before he could get his tongue working the door opened again. Castiel took two steps in, then caught sight of Balthazar and the confusion on his face morphed into a cold fury that took Dean by surprise. Balthazar offered his brother a shaky smile.

“Cassie-”

“What happened?”

Dean swallowed. He had never imagined Castiel could sound like that. A fierce shiver wracked Balthazar’s body, and Dean lurched upright. “Gonna get more towels.”

Neither brother looked at him. Dean focused on sorting out the fluffiest towels they owned, but could still hear Castiel’s deep rumbling voice. By the time Dean got back Cas was knelt in front of his brother; one hand holding a tissue to the cut on Balthazar’s face, the other pulling the towel over his wet hair. Balthazar started when Dean dropped the fresh towels on the arm of the couch, then looked away.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

Dean nodded, shifting his weight awkwardly. He used to patch up Sam when they were kids, but this was different. Even worse was the anger still distorting Cas’ features.

“Balthazar,” he said. “Who did this to you?”

Balthazar shook his head, then winced. “You don’t know them. Doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does.”

“What the fuck?”

The two of them spoke in unison, and after a moment Dean waved for Cas to continue. He wasn’t sure he would be able to keep from yelling. Not that Cas looked much better. His blue eyes narrowed, and when he spoke his voice had somehow got even deeper.

“Of course it matters,” he growled. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s not that bad-”

“Yeah, take a deep breath and say that,” Dean interjected. Balthazar glanced up, and Dean shrugged. “Broken ribs are a bitch.”

The way Balthazar was holding himself made that pretty clear. Dean retrieved a bag of peas from the freezer, wrapped them in a tea towel, and crossed the room to press them against Balthazar’s wet shirt. Balthazar jerked back with a hiss, and Dean sighed. “I know, dude, but trust me, you’ll feel like crap in the morning if you don’t.”

Balthazar cocked his head to one side. “And you would know that, how?”

Cas too had focused on him, and Dean’s stomach twisted. “Anyway, you gonna tell us who did this, or am I going to have to handle it?”

Balthazar’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry?”

Dean stared at him. What exactly had he expected? He glanced at Cas for help, and found his boyfriend glaring.

“Balthazar,” Cas began. “We are not going to let whoever did this get away with it.”

“Cassie-”

“Do you want to involve the police?”

“No!” Balthazar exclaimed. He straightened, then promptly groaned and fell back against the couch. Cas made a soft noise of concern, but Balthazar fixed him with a scowl. “Yes, I’m sure the police will be very interested in this. We all know how much they care about the queer community. They’ll definitely drop everything they have to work on it straight away-”

“All right,” Cas interrupted. His eyes found Dean’s for a moment. “We understand.”

Dean gritted his teeth. Bastards, the whole lot of them. Balthazar sagged back into the cushions, not even stirring when Cas rested a hand against his forehead. Cas chewed on his lip for a moment. “You should see a doctor.”

“No,” said Balthazar, without opening his eyes. “What are they going to do about bruises-”

“Broken ribs,” Dean corrected, but Balthazar ignored him.

“Rest and painkillers? Don’t waste the money.”

Cas’ scowl had deepened, but after a moment he jerked his head in a nod. “I will ask Raphael to visit tomorrow.” Balthazar and Dean groaned in unison. Cas quirked an eyebrow at Dean. “He is at the top of his class.”

“We know,” Dean groused. “He tells us every time we see him.”

Which thankfully wasn’t often, medical school was enough to keep even that dick busy, but right now Dean was glad at least someone in their families had some medical training. His and Sam’s first aid courses would only go so far. Balthazar pulled a face, but didn’t argue. His shivering had intensified though, and Cas frowned at him.

“Your lips are turning blue.”

Balthazar blinked, and Dean took the opportunity to drop another towel on his head. “Yeah, you should really get out of those clothes.”

Ordinarily that would have earned a comment that would have made Dean want to smack him, or at the very least a lecherous smirk, but Balthazar just looked away. Cas tugged the towel down around his shoulders.

“You should have called me. I could have picked you up.”

“Phone’s broken,” Balthazar mumbled.

“How? It was fine this… oh.” His hands clenched on the towel. “Balthazar-”

“I need a shower,” Balthazar interrupted. He pushed himself up, but stumbled violently and Dean had to catch him before he face-planted on the floor. “Ow.”

“Dude, you have gotta be more careful,” Dean wheezed. He felt Balthazar huff out a groan, and steadied him until Cas got to his other side. “You have busted ribs, remember?”

“Yeah, I got that,” Balthazar mumbled. “Hurts.”

Dean rolled his eyes. He was worse than Sammy had ever been. Cas caught his eye and jerked his head, and Dean stepped away with a sigh of relief. Cas could handle his idiot brother.

“Dean?”

Dean paused and glanced back. “Yeah?”

Balthazar was still leaning heavily on Cas, but his blue eyes settled in Dean’s vague direction. “Brady was there.”

Dean blinked, then understanding crashed over him and his hands clenched into fists. “Brady. Sam’s friend, Brady.”

Balthazar nodded. Dean took a long careful breath. Sam liked Brady. Sam trusted Brady, and Brady had helped do this...

Blood was pounding in his ears, but Dean forced himself to take a deep breath. This was no time to lose his temper. He shook himself and patted Balthazar awkwardly on the shoulder. “Okay. I’ll talk to Sam. Don’t worry about it.”

Cas caught his eye, but Dean shook his head. Balthazar needed him more than Dean did right now. The door closed behind them and Dean grabbed for his phone.

“Pick up, Sammy, pick up...”

Luckily, he wasn’t waiting long.

“Dean? Aren’t you on a date?”

“Yeah, until Balthazar turned up with his ribs kicked in,” Dean snapped. “Date’s no longer a date.”

“What? Is he okay?”

“No. Yes. Kind of, he’s okay enough not to need a hospital, but we’re dealing with that.”

Confusion entered Sam’s voice. “Right. So, why exactly are you calling me? Not that I’m not happy to help, but it sounds like you’ve got everything in hand.”

Dean grimaced. This was not going to go well. “Yeah, we do. But Balthazar says Brady was there.”

There was a long silence. Dean checked the display to make sure his brother hadn’t hung up. “Sammy?”

Sam let out a very careful breath. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean Brady was there while Balthazar got the crap kicked out of him,” Dean snapped. “It’s not difficult, Sam.”

“Brady wouldn’t do that,” Sam insisted, but Dean knew his brother and he caught the moment of hesitation. “Dean, he wouldn’t.”

Dean sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. “Well, he was there, and Balthazar looks like hell. You’re the brainiac, Sam.”

He could hear Sam’s teeth grinding over the phone. For a moment Dean felt a flicker of sympathy, then he remembered how awful Balthazar had looked, and his ruined date, and the ember died out again. “Whatever. Just do me a favour and stay away from him until we know what happened, yeah?”

“Fine,” said Sam quietly. After a beat, he added, “I hope Balthazar’s okay.”

“He will be. I’ll call you later.”

He hung up and ran his hands through his hair. This was not the way he had wanted to spend his evening. He looked up as Cas slipped from the bathroom, but his boyfriend vanished into Balthazar’s room and returned a moment later with an old tee shirt and sweatpants. He placed them in the bathroom, then closed the door quietly and retreated to the couch, and Dean wasted no time pulling him into a hug.

“You okay?”

Cas was fairly vibrating with tension, but Dean held him close and he soon relaxed into Dean’s arms. “I’m not the one who was attacked.”

Dean sighed and pressed a kiss to his boyfriend’s messy hair. “He’s your brother,” he mumbled. “It’s okay to be, y’know.”

Cas buried his face in Dean’s shoulder instead of replying. Dean mentally kicked himself. Sam was the one who was good at this stuff, at talking. He sighed and hugged Cas tighter, and was rewarded when Cas finally sagged against him.

“This shouldn’t have happened.”

Dean just shook his head. Cas’ hands clenched in Dean’s shirt. “Dean... I don’t know how to fix this.”

Dean closed his eyes. “Cas,” he began, but then the shower shut off and Dean swallowed a curse. “We’ll talk about this later,” he promised. “Right now, he just needs you to be his brother.”

Cas pulled back enough to frown at him. “I am his brother. Nothing can change that.”

“Cas,” Dean sighed. “I mean take care of him. Be comforting.”

“Of course,” said Cas. Then the bathroom door opened and he spun round. “Balthazar. How are you feeling?”

Balthazar was already shuffling towards his bedroom. He waved a weak hand in their direction without looking at them. “Mm. Going to bed.”

Cas trailed after him, and Dean could already see his hesitancy fading in the face of his brother’s discomfort. Dean gave the two of them a minute, then grabbed the painkillers and a bottle of water and followed.

To his great relief, Balthazar was in bed and Cas was propping him up on a stack of pillows by the time Dean joined them. He set his contributions on the bedside table and coughed.

“Here. Take these.”

Balthazar grumbled something under his breath, but it would take a stronger man than either of them to deny Cas’ pleading blue eyes and he gave in with a sigh. “Cheers.”

Dean nodded and retreated to the doorway. Cas hovered until Balthazar had taken the tablets and managed some of the water. “Will you be all right?”

Balthazar hummed. “Be fine, Cassie. Don’ worry about me.”

Dean winced. Cas’ jaw clenched, but he just pulled the blankets up around Balthazar’s shoulders. “Sleep. Call if you need anything.”

Balthazar blinked blearily up at him and managed a weak nod. His eyes drifted closed, and it took only a moment for the rasp of his breathing evened out. Castiel continued to watch over him, his lean frame rigid with tension, until Dean touched his shoulder. He started, and Dean jerked his head in the direction of the main room. Balthazar needed to sleep, and they needed to talk.

The dinner was ruined, but Dean’s appetite had deserted him. Castiel moved like he was sleep-walking, and Dean nudged him gently in the direction of the couch.

“Hey. He’ll be okay. You know that right?”

For a long moment, Castiel didn’t respond. Even when he did, his eyes remained fixed on Balthazar’s bedroom door. “I’m going to find out who did this.”

Dean had been expecting that. What was unexpected was the barely-contained fury in his boyfriend’s voice. Cas’ hands clenched into fists on his lap. “This never happens again.”

“No arguments there,” said Dean, and despite his best efforts he couldn’t keep the anger from his own voice. Balthazar was a jerk, but he didn’t deserve that. “We’ll do something. Dunno what yet, but-”

“We’re going to make them pay.”

Dean blinked. He had been about to suggest something similar, but he was the petty one. Cas was the one who was always telling him to let go and forgive, but Cas’ blue eyes were blazing as they met Dean’s. “They’re going to pay for this.”

“Yeah,” said Dean slowly. “Dude, he will be okay-”

“I don’t care. They hurt my brother.”

His voice cracked on the last syllable. Cas promptly clamped his jaw shut and turned away, until Dean caught his elbow. “Hey, Cas, talk to me. What are you thinking?”

Something was wrong here. More wrong. Cas was private, and Dean got that. He had his own stuff that he wasn’t ready to share yet, but he hated seeing his boyfriend like this. Dean squeezed Cas’ arm. “I got your back, man. You know that. But I want to help, with everything.”

There was silence for a long minute. Dean was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to get an answer, when Cas’ shoulders finally slumped. He rubbed a hand over his face and looked back at Dean.

“I didn’t want Balthazar to come and live with us.” His voice was quiet, but had lost none of its intensity. “You’ve met my brothers. I expected the same from a foster brother, even if he was my age.”

Dean listened without interrupting. Castiel hardly ever spoke about his teen years. When he continued, his voice was quiet enough that Dean had to lean in close to make out the words.

“We didn’t get on, not then, but at school that didn’t matter. When they… He was always there when I needed him. They hated him for his accent and his attitude-”

“And his ability to piss people off without trying?” Dean suggested, and was relieved to see a faint smile touch Cas’ lips.

“That,” he agreed. “He never cared. He only ever got in fights for me.” He looked down at his clenched fists. “He was always looking out for me.”

Dean shifted uncomfortably. He’d never thought he and Balthazar had anything in common, but Cas wore the same expression that Sam had whenever Dean got into trouble for him. He sighed and wrapped an arm around his boyfriend’s shoulders.

“He’s a good brother,” he said. “And so’re you.”

Cas leaned into him. He was silent for a long moment, and when he spoke again all traces of humour had drained from his voice. “I’m going to find out who did this. And I’m going to need your help.”

“Anything,” said Dean immediately. “Whatever you need.”

Cas paused, then tilted his head to kiss him. Dean blinked but returned it eagerly until Cas pulled away. “Thank you,” he whispered.

Dean grinned at him. “My pleasure. But aren’t you just going to ask Balthazar?”

Cas’ face twisted. “I can ask. He won’t tell me.”

“What?”

“He’ll want to forget it,” said Cas quietly. “He won’t want me worrying about him. Even though I should.” He shook his head. “He’s stubborn.”

Dean coughed, and smiled at the indignant look that lit Cas’ face. His boyfriend really couldn’t talk about being stubborn. His amusement faded abruptly as Cas’ last words registered. “Wait, isn’t he going to want payback?”

“Not if it might put me in danger,” said Cas. His jaw tightened for a moment before he looked away. “Besides, he’s hurt. He needs to rest. I don’t want him worrying.”

That was a very good point. Dean took a breath. “Okay then. What do we do?”

Cas straightened. The gleam was back in his blue eyes. “We talk to Sam and Jessica. And Brady.” He paused. “And I need to call Gabriel.”

Dean flinched. “Dude, is it really that bad?”

If Balthazar was a pain in the neck, Gabriel was a public menace. Cas just looked at him, and Dean raised his hands. “Fine.”

If anyone deserved Gabriel, it was these bastards. Dean rolled his neck round. “You’ve got a plan?”

Cas’ eyes glinted, and Dean felt a shiver run down his spine. He was liking this look on his boyfriend. Cas laced their fingers together and nodded. “They’re going to regret this.”

Dean had never doubted Castiel. There was no way in hell he was starting now.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Any feedback would be appreciated.
> 
> Come and find me on tumblr for more fanfic-related stuff. https://izzyaro.tumblr.com/


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